From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA Privateering In Vineyard In the Revolutionary War William T. Munson mainly the result of individual action rather than a coordinated program under the Continental Soon after a Lexington farmer had fired “the shot Congress or the government. The heard round the world,” another shot, though not as isolated, exposed position of Martha's Vineyard, famed nor presumably heard so far, was fired in Naushon, and the other made . This shot was fired from one of the any coordinated military effort difficult. Much of three swivels mounted on the whaleboat of an the privateering in Vineyard Sound was carried on intrepid Vineyarder named Benjamin Smith. It was in vessels that were not regularly commissioned, the signal for the opening of an engagement that with little official cognizance other than that of ought to rank as the first sea battle of the American selectmen, committees of safety and other local Revolution. That distinction is generally awarded to authorities. the sloop Unity, commanded by Jeremiah O'Brien, which captured the British armed schooner This was all the authority that Captain Smith had Margaretta off Machias, Maine.1 In fact, the affair when he sallied forth in a whaleboat with a small in Vineyard Sound, although hardly a major action, crew of volunteers to undertake the capture of the does qualify as the first armed combat of the war on armed British schooner Volante, tender of the the sea. British cruiser Scarborough. Though there was a great disparity between the two vessels, Smith The Sound was the major for ships bound made up in daring what he lacked in ordinance, to and from New York, and the privateersmen of boarded and soon brought the prize into safe Martha's Vineyard and Naushon took the harbor.3 opportunity to prey on the passing British vessels. British men of war responded in several incidents The inhabitants of Naushon also engaged in some of aggressive action against the privateers, and that whaleboat privateering, but despite the fine harbor in turn led to retaliatory action on the part of the at Tarpaulin which had earlier sheltered islanders. pirates and other illicit raiders of commerce, the activities of this small island were soon curtailed One such incident happened in the spring of 1775 by the “sloop Falcon, commanded by Captain when the Falcon, a British Sloop, took two vessels Linzey.”4 This vessel anchored at in the Sound “on some frivolous pretence....on in early June, 1775, and sent in a landing party. which the people fitted out two other vessels in the After securing a major part of the supplies, the Vineyard Sound, went in pursuit of them, retook men stove in all of the whaleboats beached on the and brought both into a Harbour and sent the shore. The inhabitants of were Prisoners to Taunton Gaol.”2 In this case it seems handicapped by the fact that although they were that the small vessels so fitted out were small sloops on the route of supply ships, they were also very rather than the more usual whaleboats. vulnerable to the raids of British men of war that were based at Newport and ranged constantly in All privateering in Vineyard Sound during the the area. Revolutionary War was sporadic, opportunistic and

3 From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Woods Hole Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA

On December 11, 1775, the selectmen of Falmouth cannon to be mounted on them. These were tried to get the government to use Tarpaulin Cove as completely ineffective as the British kept close a base for privateering operations. In a petition to the watch upon the island. Whatever captures were Honorable Council and House of Representatives in made by these boats were minor and not mentioned General Court assembled, they stated that “in the in the records of the prize courts of the Southeastern Island of Naushon is a very commodious harbor district. much used by all vessels and where a small ship of In June of 1776, Barachiah Bassett petitioned the war and two or three tenders might interrupt and council of the House of Representatives of the even destroy all the unarmed vessels passing through Massachusetts to maintain some military and the sd. Sound.”5 naval force for the defense of the islands. Ten whaleboats were allotted “for the protection of Little was or could be done to follow this advice, Tarpolan Cove and Martha's Vineyard” with the beyond sending a few whaleboats and some small added hope that

Painting done in the 1930s by Franklin Lewis Gifford of the English raid on Woods Hole on April 1, 1779. Courtesy Woods Hole Library. Photo by Paul Ferris Smith. This painting portrays a typical forage by the British in Revolutionary times. Early in the morning of April 1, 1779, the British landed on the shores of Little Harbor in Woods Hole and proceeded to steal twelve head of cattle from nearby farms. They drove them down to the shore and knocked them on the head. The British were about to load the carcasses aboard their boats when they were fired upon by some of the Minutemcn who had arrived to repulse this foraging party. So fierce was the fire of the Americans that the British had to abandon their loot and sailed off empty-handed. Frustrated and infuriated, the British determined on revenge. They decided to sail the fleet down from Tarpaulin Cove to Falmouth on April 3 and burn the town down.

4 From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Woods Hole Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA they might be used for the preying on the commerce teer. The custom of the courts was to divide such of the enemy that passed without.6 prizes according to the number of carriage guns on the participating privateers. Since whaleboats carried These whaleboats were authorized by the Council no such weapons, and the guns they did have were eleven days later. These whaleboats provided the generally of little use in small actions of this sort, Islanders with the nucleus of a small privateering some new method had to be devised. It was finally fleet. Mainly through the initiative of two captains of decided to divide the prize in proportion to the the Seacoast companies, Nathan and Benjamin number of men in each vessel.8 Smith, this fleet remained active until the companies were disbanded. Other than whaleboats, the only vessels used by the Vineyarders for privateering in the Sound were small Whaleboats made excellent privateer vessels in the sloops such as the craft fitted out for the express waters of Vineyard Sound. Manned by anywhere purpose of recapturing the prizes of H.M.S. Falcon. from eight to fifteen men and armed with one or The only regularly commissioned privateer based on more swivel guns, a whaleboat could slip up to the Martha's Vineyard was the sloop Liberty. 9 She was side of an enemy vessel under cover of darkness, commissioned by the Massachusetts government, board and secure the ship before the crew had been although there is no record of the usual bond being alerted to the fact that they were being attacked. required of the master or owner.

Such action would seem almost comparable to piracy Liberty was under the command of Captain Benjamin since these small vessels carried no commission, but Smith and manned by members of his Vineyard they were sent out principally by authority of the Seacoast Company. Her mission was to capture the selectmen of the town. A further stamp of legality transport Harriot, Weymuse Orrack, Master, that was was put upon the capture by having the prize loaded with “Cole, Porter, and Potatoes bound for “libelled” by one of the several courts set up for this Boston.”10 The transport was engaged in early March purpose by the government of Massachusetts. In the 1776 and brought into the harbor. 11 This was another case of captures in Vineyard Sound, prizes would be example of the intrepid seamanship and courage of taken before the Court of the Southeastern district Captain Smith and his company, for the Harriot was a located at Barnstable. This is what happened when large ship of two hundred fifty tons burthen and the the schooner Bedford was captured on March 23, Liberty was but a small sloop. In this case the verdict 1776, by the Seacoast Company of Tisbury under the of the Court was not as generous. The captain and direction of Captain Nathan Smith. The schooner had company petitioned the court seeking more than the been carrying a cargo of provisions for the British one thud share that they had been awarded.12 The fleet and army, and in this case the court allowed the petition was disallowed. company to take two thirds of the contents of the vessel.” Privateering in the Sound was not wholly the province of the Patriots. From the beginning of the Violent disputes in the prize courts were precipitated war, local trade through the Sound was bothered by when a vessel was captured by more than one priva- the

5 From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Woods Hole Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA depredations of small boats similar to those used There was little cohesion or effective direction to the against the British. The local inhabitants called them activities of the privateers in Vineyard Sound; the 'Picaroons' and found them a source of great privateering was sporadic, occurred early in the war annoyance. They were based in harbors protected by and had no noticeable effect upon the outcome of the larger British vessels and were manned by Tories. The war. The privateers fought no major battles, nor did Tories called themselves British belligerents, but they any of their actions greatly advance the cause of acted like little more than pirates, robbing friend and Independence. Their story is one of individual action foe alike whenever the opportunity presented itself. in the immediate defense and for the immediate There were no commissions, bonds, or other records benefit of exposed settlements that were largely a with which to document the activities of these liability to the patriot cause. marauders. However, the privateers did their part in a small way Grey's raid in 1778 destroyed twenty-six whaleboats for independence and did remain a thorn in the side and two sloops at the Vineyard and deprived Naushon of the British fleet. The Vineyarders certainly did not of most of its remaining sustenance. The raid ended deserve the comments of Col. Beriah Norton. An the Patriot privateering in these parts for a time. In its early leader of the revolt, Norton spent the later years stead, the British began to use the harbor at Tarpaulin of his life attempting to gain restitution for the Cove as a base for their own privateers. damage done by Grey's raid. In a petition to the Admiralty Board in England he made the following Early in May 1779, a ship was returning from the amazing statement: “It is truly astonishing that these Connecticut River with corn for Woods Hole. Corn inhabitants should be accused of fitting out Privateers was then selling at $3.00 per bushel, attesting the and Rowboats and taking many prizes into port, when efficiency of the British blockade. The ship was it is incontestably true that no privateer or row-boat intercepted by a British privateer as she entered the was ever fitted out from the island nor any part of one Sound, captured, and taken to the anchorage at the owned by any inhabitant of it.” Cove. Later in the night, Col. Dimmick proceeded silently to the Cove with members of the Falmouth Suffice it to say that the absurdity of this report is militia in three of the armed whaleboats then at apparent. Norton's statement was obviously designed Woods Hole. They arrived just before daybreak and to extract money from the British and is disproved by were fired on by both vessels. They managed to board the records. Such talk as this must have seemed little the prize, secure it, and run for safety behind the reefs short of treason to such men as Benjamin and Nathan of Martha's Vineyard. Here they beached the vessel Smith and the other hardy Yankees who sallied forth until the tide turned, then refloated her and sailed to in flimsy ill-armed whaleboats to do battle with Woods Hole. At that time there were seven enemy armed British men of war. privateers in the harbor at Tarpaulin Cove according to an order issued by the Board of War and the Naval William I. Munson is a loyal Harvard alumnus. His long Board to the frigate Providence. and distinguished service as Trustee of the Falmouth Public Library culminated recently when the Town declared a Bill Munson Day with a ceremony in his honor at the main library. Mr. Munson is a respected Falmouth attorney.

6 From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Woods Hole Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA

Painting done in the 1930s by Franklin Lewis Gifford, “Falmouth Militia Repels British Invasion.” Courtesy Falmouth Historical Society. Photo by Paul Ferris Smith. This painting shows the British retaliation for the repulse of their raiders at Woods Hole on April 1, 1779. On April 3, a fleet of ten schooners and sloops carrying 200 British sympathizers from Plymouth and Newport arrived off Surf Drive Beach to invade the town of Falmouth and burn it down. Col. Joseph Dimmick of Falmouth is portrayed in this painting as pacing the breastworks along the beach while bullets and cannon balls fly around him. He refused pleas that he protect himself in the trench. Col. Dimmick was made general after the war. During the war, he was also responsible for preventing British use of as a supply base. The story of how Falmouth was warned about this attack is told by Judith Stetson in Woods Hole Reflections, edited by Mary Lou Smith, published by the Woods Hole Historical Collection, 1983, p. 22. : “Some officers of the fleet spent the evening of the 2nd enjoying a frolic at the house of John Slocum, a renowned Tory living on the island of Pasque near Tarpaulin Cove. Slocum overheard their plan and could not bear to have the town destroyed without a warning. He sent his son running down the islands to tow across to Woods Hole and warn the village. When the English arrived at 9 the next morning off Surf Drive beach, they found Major Dimmick with two Falmouth companies and two Sandwich companies ready to beat them off. After some skirmishing during which the cannonballs buried themselves harmlessly in the April slush instead of rebounding into the defenders, the fleet sailed away.”

7 From Spritsail: A Journal of the History of Falmouth and Vicinity, Vol. 13, No. 1. Winter, 1999. Woods Hole Historical Collection, Woods Hole, MA

Mr. Munson consulted archives at the New England Notes Historical Society and Widener Library in the course of researching his paper. 1. G.W. Allen in his preface to Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution gives credit to Machias as location of the first action of the war, but says there were reports of “some” action near Martha’s Vineyard, but on what “authority” these were reported he does not know. Bibliography Authority for the authenticity of this action was found in the records by Dr. Charles E. Banks and appear in his Massachusetts Archives Volumes CCIX, CXCIV, CLXX1, manuscript for his History of Martha's Vineyard. Emmons CXCI. Statistical History of the U.S. Navy contains record of Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society Vol. V this action. New England Chronicle May 18, 1775. 2. New England Chronicle, May 18,1775. Banks, Charles E., Manuscript for History of Martha's Vineyard 3. Emmons, Statistical History of the U.S. Navy. Volumes I-V. 4. The manuscript reference called this “the sloop Banks, Charles E., The History of Martha's Vineyard Volumes I Faulkland” but there is no record of any British sloop and II, George H. Dean; Boston, 1911 (republished by by that name being in these waters. However there are constant references in other sources to the activities of Dukes County Historical Society, 1966.) the Falcon in Tarpaulin Cove. Allen, Gardner W, Massachusetts Privateers of the American 5. Amelia Forbes Emerson, Early History of Naushon Island, Revolution Volume 44, Proceedings of Massachusetts p. 266. Historical Society, Boston, 1927. 6. Tarpolan Cove, June 11, 1776. Letter of Barachiah Emmons, George Foster, Statistical History of U.S. Navy, Bassen to the Council of the House of Representatives Gideon & Co., Washington of the . Massachusetts Archives Emerson, Amelia Forbes, Early History of Naushon Island, CCIX, 315. Thomas Todd Co., Boston, 1935. 7. Massachusetts Archives, Council Records. Maclay, Edgar Stanton, A History of American Privateers, D. 8. Timothy Pickering, Philadelphia, to Messrs. Andrew and Appleton & Co., 1899. Ward, 21 February 1779; Pickering Papers (Massachusetts Historical Society) V, 137. 9. Allen, Massachusetts Privateering, 205. 10. Massachusetts Archives CXCIV, 281. (handwritten comment?) 11. Letter to James Otis by Bcriah Norron, March 7, 1776. 12. Massachusetts Archives CLXXXI, 78.

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